HRMJ (Harmony, formerly MRJH)
by TheEarthbendingRavenclaw
Summary: In the world of Remnant there are all kinds of danger. That is why huntsmen and huntresses are trained to protect it from Creatures like the Grimm. There are even bigger dangers out there , though. Dangers only a few are trusted to handle. (Major crossover! HTTYD, ROTG, Tangled, Brave, Frozen, Gravity Falls, Lion King, The Croods, Brother Bear, Ice Age, Madagascar, and more!)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

BBBRRRIIINNNGGG!

"Class dismissed," Gobber shouted as the long line of prospective protectors of humanity began filing out. The retired huntsman watched the throng of students for a little while, eyeing them over. This wasn't a very hopeful group. Only a handful stood a chance of being accepted to Beacon this year, if that. He shook his head as he hobbled along with his prosthetic leg that he kept telling himself he'd get fixed one day to start collecting his things. It seemed that every class he taught was weaker than the last. These kids were getting soft. Too soft! They could barely even handle a young Beowulf. How did they expect themselves to be huntsman. He shook his head as he slipped a book into his bag, barely paying any mind to the two students who remained in their seats.

Now those two, the petite auburn-haired boy with his nose buried in a book, and the curly red-headed girl with picking at her nails with her feet propped up on her desk, yes, those two had potential. Even though their parents couldn't see it, or refused to see it, those two were going to go somewhere. As soon as they stopped breaking the village that was.

Well, for now they were going to go back to his shop.

"Merida, get yer cousin out of booklland so we can go," Gobber said as he threw his sack over his shoulder.

Merida let her legs slide off the desk and slugged her cousin in the shoulder.

"Ow, hey!" the boy frowned as he looked up from his book at her.

"Ye been readin' through my entire lecture, Hiccup?" Gobber asked as he limped towards the two teenagers.

"I've literally heard that story since I was a baby," Hiccup answered. "I could probably recite it back to you."

"Alright, let's hear it then," Gobber said as he led the two teenagers out of the Berk Academy and towards his weapon shop. This was a common ritual for him and the two younglings. He was good friends with both of their parents. Hiccup was the son of the Berk Academy headmaster. Merida was the daughter of the Island of Berk's governor. Both sets of parents were busy. Too busy. Which meant the two teens often spent their nights hanging around Gobber's shop.

As Hiccup continued recounting the tale Gobber had told in class he was cut off with a loud-

"Oof!"

"Whoopsy! Did I do that? Aw, is the wittle boy got a boo-boo?" a nagging voice called as Hiccup picked himself up off the ground, tugging his ever-present, oversized fur vest back in place.

"Snotlout, you howling bampot, whaddya think your doin'?" Merida asked as she stomped towards the bigger boy.

"What, I was just walking, he was the one who got in my way!" Snotlout Jorgenson stated as he pointed back at Hiccup who had by now stood to his feet and had begu dusting himself off.

"You and I both know that's not the case!" Merida crossed her arms.

"Oh," Snotlout turned back to Hiccup. "So now you're going to let our little cousin stand up for you."

"I'm not little!"

"C'mon, Mer, let's just go," Hiccup grumbled as he grabbed Merida by the arm and they began to walk back towards Gobber, who was watching on with a deep frown on his face.

Merida stuck her tongue out at Snotlout as she followed along behind Hiccup.

"What, no love for the future patriarch?" Snotlout asked.

"As if we'd let-"

"Mer, let's go," Hiccup said in a firmer voice as he continued dragging the fiery red head behind him.

Gobber sighed deeply. It was a sad state of affairs, really. Three cousins, who should have been the best of friends, constantly at war with one another. Not that it was their fault. The fact that their mother, three sisters, had all married competitive men who always sought to outdo one another was something completely out of their control. As was the fact that two of their mothers had since vanished from their children's lives. At least Merida and Hiccup got along. Snotlout though, well, Gobber worried about that boy…

Setting a hand on the back of either teen, Gobber led Hiccup and Merida through town. They didn't have far to go. Berk was a small village as well as, in a word, sturdy. Most settlements outside the four main kingdoms didn't survive long, but this one had held its own for three hundred years. It had gone through several changes in those centuries, buildings having to be constantly remade after Grimm attacks. But they were still here. Having a training academy certainly helped with that. Though only a few students got chosen to attend any of the four huntsman academies each year, having nearly youth in town trained in some kind of combat was definitely a plus. It certainly added to the warrior spirit of the town. As if the carvings of Grimm decorating the houses, signs of the number of creatures the inhabitants had slain, weren't indication enough.

Not all of the houses were decorated in monsters, though. Some had other legendary figures etched into them. The maiden of the stars. The man in the moon. The blue fairy.

Finally reaching the only weapon shop in town, Gobber unlocked the door and opened it for the two teens. Merida went into the shop area behind the front desk and flipped on the television, skipping through the channels to find something to watch, picking at the ridiculously thick acrylic nails her mother forced her to wear. Hiccup trudged up the steps to the room that Gobber had politely dubbed "his cove." It was where he designed all of his creative gadgets and gizmos, though today he had no interest in tinkering. He was too invested in his new book for that.

He plopped down onto the cot in the back corner and pulled the book back out of his backpack. He sighed as he looked at the dent in the flimsy mattress he'd made. There was a good chance he'd be staying here tonight rather than home. With finals coming up his dad had a lot of work to do. Not to mention everyone was going to be stressed getting ready to try and not fail their classes as well as impress the representatives from Beacon. And with stress came Grimm. Hiccup could handle the smaller ones on his own and you barely saw anything bigger than an Ursa on Berk, but still, better safe than sorry. Especially after dark.

He laid back down as he flipped to the page he'd left off of and began reading again.

"...try as she may, the youngest sister could do nothing to reach her siblings. They were all bent on continuing and winning this war. Only the youngest of them saw that the fighting was pointless-"

"Hiccup," Merida poked her head in the door.

"Hm?" he asked, never taking his eyes from his book.

"Let's make a new weapon."

"I'm reading."

"But I'm bored!"

"Sounds like a personal problem," Hiccup said as he turned the page. "Besides, I end up doing all the work anyways."

"No ye don't!" Merida protested. "I come up with ideas and then you make them happen."

"Uh-huh. You come up with a ridiculous lump of explosives and fire and I have to figure out how to actually turn it into a design that's actually functional," Hiccup began counting off on his fingers with one hand while continuing to read. "Figure out how to get the stuff to actually make it, put the thing together, test for kinks, work out the kinks, repeat the last two steps at least five times, and then polish it and make it look nice."

"Exactly, I have the vision and you're the one who makes it happen," Merida answered.

"Not today I'm not," Hiccup brought his book back over his face, blocking his cousin from view.

"Ugh! C'mon cous, I'm dying!"

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to send flowers to your funeral."

"Yer the worst!"

"So I've been told."

"What are you even reading about?" Merida leaned over the cot to read the cover of Hiccup's book. "The Maid of the Stars? What's that?"

"It's about the Maid of the Stars."

"I got that much you dummy! But what does she do?"

"Tries to settle a war between her three older siblings, and then when that doesn't work she goes back to her magical realm called 'the star' harnessed the power of its core, and lock each of her siblings within the cores of their realms, the moon, the sun, and the earth respectfully. But by doing so she ends up blowing her realm into smithereens, thus creating the millions of stars we see now."

"Okay, you lost me at 'magical realm.'"

Hiccup rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Just read it when I'm done. It makes more sense in context."

"No!" Merida shuddered. "Don't you remember our agreement? Your the brains and I'm the brawn."

"Why, no. No, I don't not recall such an agreement. Now shut up so I can read," Hiccup huffed as he flipped the page again.

"But I'm bored!" Merida slumped to the floor.

"Again, sounds like a-"

Ding-a-ling!

"Welcome to Gobber's Weaponry. How can I help you?"

Both teenagers perked up at the sound, wondering if perhaps this patron would be someone they knew and could talk to.

"Oh, well that's mighty kind of you, hops along!"

Merida and Hiccup shared a glance. Neither of them recognized that voice. Berk wasn't a very big Island or village. After living here for their whole lives they'd pretty much met every person who lived here.

"How about I just take all your dust and money?" the voice asked again.

"Wait, wha-" Gobber began.

"Come on, limpy, don't make me get messy."

"Um, Mer, I think Gobber might be-and she's gone."

In a flash Merida had bolted down the stairs. Hiccup stood to his feet, setting his book down as he picked up his weapons. As he rushed down the stairs, he counted to himself.

"Fiery explosion in three, two…"

BOOM!

"There it is."

"Merida!" Gobber screeched. "Yer supposed to save me shop not burn it to a-and there she goes."

Hiccup made it to the bottom floor and to Gobber who was still standing behind the front counter, using his coat to beat out the flames left by Merida's fire bolt.

"Gobber do you ne-"

"Go get yer crazy cousin before she gets herself killed or burns half the village down!" Gobber shouted.

Hiccup nodded and took off out the door, making sure his vest was still in place as he did so. He could still see a trail of Merida's whisps, faint but still there, trailing through town. He followed them, running as fast as he could to try and catch up to Merida before her trail disappeared. There's no way she would have had much of a chance to attach to this guy's aura so her tracking on him couldn't have been that great. Hiccup didn't have much time.

He finally found her standing in the center of the town square, shooting several dust bolts at a man in a yellow trench coat and top hat with an eye-patch…

...floating ten feet off the ground.

"BAHAHAHA! Keep trying curly top and maybe you'll actually hit me."

"Huh," Hiccup set his weapons down to pull out a pad and pencil. "That's a new one."

He flipped to a page titled "semblances" and added "anti-gravity abilities of some sort" to the long and ongoing list.

"Hiccup, a little help here!?" Merida shouted.

Hiccup put his pad back and looked about. There were a pile of bricks lying near a demolished building that was in the process of being constructed because it may-or-may-not have been trampled by a stampede of Beowulf's that may-or-may-not have been angered by one of Merida and Hiccup's new weapons that may-or-may-not have malfunctioned, forcing the two to retreat back into town.

Regardless, these bricks were about to come in handy now. Hiccup reached a hand towards them and engaged his semblance. The bricks rose off the ground and Hiccup guided them towards the floating man with a flick of his wrist.

"Whoa!" the man in yellow said as he dodged the bricks. "Well, well, well, looks like we've got a telekinetic on our hands here, boys!"

"Boys?" Hiccup asked just as a giant airship flew out from behind the trees of the forest surrounding town. As the approached at breakneck speeds Hiccup and Merida could see a motley crew of people dressed in all kinds of colorful costumes riding inside the ship. As it drew close several jumped off of the ship and surrounded the two teens. One near Hiccup, a rather large and burly man with unusually large teeth, held up his hands to reveal the were decked in brass knuckles…

...that were fueled with lightning dust.

The man reared back to punch. Hiccup held up his shield. The punch hit against the hard metal, sending off a blast of electricity that zapped and pulsed through the shield. Hiccup listened, waiting for the 'click' that signalled that the blow had been fully absorbed. He then pushed a button on his shield and the lighting blast shot back through the shield and at the man who had given it in the first place. The man grunted and fell back, collapsing to the ground.

Hiccup smirked at his work just as two objects whizzed past his face.

He heard a couple of "laughs!" and "oofs!" from behind him and turned just in time to see two more croneys collapsing to the ground. Their weapons, apparently once held above his head, now laid at their sides. Two more objects whizzed past Hiccup, straight towards Merida.

"Mer-' Hiccup tried to warn her, but stopped mid sentence when the objects bounced off seemingly nothing. A loud yelp filled the air as a woman materialized in front of them and collapsed. Hiccup blinked, then turned to see where these objects were coming from and what they were. A tall man stood at the edge of the town scare, walking cooly through the crowd that had begun to form. He was dressed from head to toe in leather, and he held two boomerangs in his hands, jolting a zapping from lightning dust. Two large, gray bunny ears sprouted from his head.

"A faunus?" Hiccup gasped as the man drew closer, raising his boomerangs and throwing them towards the airship. Hiccup turned and looked, by now the man in the yellow trench coat had climbed aboard and was beckoning all of his cronies to do the same. "C'mon, you idiots! Let's go!"

Zap! Pop!

"Hurry, before this guys electrocutes us!"

The last of the lackeys, the big-toothed man Hiccup had fought climbed aboard and the ship began to take off. The yellow man smiled as he waved to the crowd below.

"Don't worry, folks, this isn't the last you've heard from good ol' Bill Cipher!"

The ship's door closed and it flew off, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

"Bill Cipher?" Merida asked as she drew closer to her cousin.

"No idea," Hiccup answered.

"You two!" both teens jumped at the feel of a strong hand on their shoulders. They looked to see the bunny faunus glaring at them.

"Come with me!" he shouted as he began dragging them both to a hotel near the town square.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

"Oof!" both Hiccup and Merida grunted as they were tossed upon a couch in the hotel lobby. The rabbit faunus took a deep growling breath as he paced in front of them, tugging at his silvery hair. The two teens felt very uneasy as to what their fate would soon be. Huntsmen were not to be trifled with, and clearly this guy was a very upset huntsman. He had to be. There were no faunus living on Berk. Well, at the very least none that would claim that heritage. There may have been a few there who were able to hide their animalistic traits, but no Berkian citizen would dare flaunt a pair of rabbit ears out in the open like this! Berkians were not very...well...friendly to faunus kind. Therefore, the only way a faunus like him would be here was if he were a huntsman on a mission.

"Do you two have any idea what levels of grief you've just caused me?" the faunus asked as he crossed his arms.

"US!?" Merida screeched. "That whacker attacked our uncle's shop! We were just trying to-"

"And I've been chasing that whacker for two months!" the rabbit faunus yelled.

"We-" Merida began, but Hiccup cut her off.

"Hey, maybe don't anger the professional huntsman with the exploding boomerangs!"

"And when I get this close," the faunus continued as he held up a his fingers within a fraction of a centimeter apart. "I end up losing him again because I've got to protect you two ankle biters!"

"Well, if catching him means that much to you let us help," Merida offered.

"I think not!" the faunus thundered. "You two have cost me enough!"

"Actually, she might be able to help," Hiccup said meekly. "Her semblance lets her track people by-"

"I don't care," the faunus leaned in to both the youth, causing the cousins to back up. "You two-"

"Bunnymund!"

Hiccup and Merida turned to see a tall man dressed in a long red trench coat and with a long, shiny white beard, and two heavy black hiking boots walking towards them.

"Professor North," the faunus said in a low, respectful voice as he stood up and stepped aaside. Both Merida and Hiccup's eyes bulged out of their heads.

Professor Nicholas North, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, in the flesh! Of course they had technically seen him before. He often came to handpick students from Berk's academy to attend Beacon. These lucky few would go on to become professional huntsman and huntresses. The trials to be accepted were always a big to-do and the whole town attended! More than the town. It wasn't uncommon to have a few odd outsiders enter the trials for a chance of being selected, though it rarely worked out for them.

None to less, these trials meant Hiccup and Merida had seen him up in the box seat of Berk's tiny arena as they watched the hopeful youth battles for Beacon admition from while they watched on in the stands with the rest of the crowd. They'd never been in the same of room as the headmaster and certainly not as up close and personal as they were right now.

The headmaster pulled up a chair and sat in front of the couch that Merida and Hiccup were seated upon. Hiccup began nervously tugging at his vest, checking to make sure it was in place. Merida notcied an slapped his hand away, lest he draw too much attention to it.

Headmaster North sat down and began stroking his beard. "Merida DunBroch and Hiccup Haddock."

The two teenagers exchanged a bewildered look. He knew their names?

"Well, you two are Hiccup Haddock and Merida DunBroch aren't you?"

"Oh, er, uh, yes. Yes we are," Hiccup answered.

"I thought so," Headmaster North smiled. "You two are cousins, no? On your mothers's side, I believe?" North asked.

"Yes," Merida said, nervously glancing at Hiccup out of the corner of her eye. His gaze fell slightly.

"That was rather impressive what you two did out there," North said.

"Hmph!" the faunus scoffed as he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Who taught you two how to fight?" North asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "We kinda taught oursleves."

"Oh," North raised his eyebrows. "Ambitious of you both. I like it! Though I am a bit confused," North leaned back in his chair. "You two have huntsmen as parents. Did you not learn anything from them?"

"Retired huntsmen," Merida corrected with a scoff.

"A bit," Hiccup admitted. "I mean, they made sure we could defend ourselves against some of the smaller Grimm you see around her. But they...um...are busy so we have had to do most of the training beyond that on our own."

"Pfft," Merida rolled her eyes. "Naw, they don't want us becoming hunstmen like them."

"Merida," Hiccup hissed.

"Well, it's true," Merida crossed her arms.

"Hm," North stroked his chin. "And yet they let you enroll in the Berk combat academy."

Both teens shrugged. They didn't understand it either. Their parents all but pushed them towards attending the Berk Combat Academy, but whenever either of them mentioned going to Beacon to become professional hunstmen they were always met with a resounding "Absolutely Not!" or "Your place is here, protecting Berk!" or "Huntresses rarely fair well in the domestic game!"

North stroked his beard somemore as he nodded thoughtfully. "But what about you two? Do you two want to become a huntsman and huntress?"

"YES!" Merida shouteded. She wanted to be a huntress more than anything! The ability to travel to world. The adventure of hunting and killing Grimm. The satisfaction of doing good for others. Just the freedom to live her own life with no one to tell her what to do.

Hiccup nodded, but said nothing. Becoming a hunstman was a ticket off Berk. That was about all he cared about at the moment. What came after that, well, he hadn't thought that far.

North smiled at the two youth. "I thought so. Well, then, how would you like to go to Beacon Academy?"

Hiccup and Merida both gasped. Them? In Beacon? It was a dream they both had shared since they were little. But they never thought it would happen. And certainly not like this! You couldn't just be invited to go! You had to fight to even be given the chance to attend. Then you had to fight for a spot on a team! Then you and your team had to maintain your grades and skills in order to stay! This was just...this…

"YES!" Merida screamed again.

"Do you...do you mean it?" Hiccup asked.

"Absolutely!"

"Erm...Headmaster, with all due respect," the faunus argued. "I'm not sure-"

"Oh, and why not?" North asked. "They jumped right into the heart of battle to defend a loved one without a second thought. That sounds like great hunstmen potential to me!"

"But North!"

As the two kept arguing Hiccup tugged on Merida's sleeve.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Y'know our parents are never going to let us go, right?"

"UGH!" Merida facepalmed. "If my mother thinks she's gonna keep me from-"

"If I think I'm going to keep you from what?"

Hiccup and Merida both jumped and turned to find Elinor DunBroch standing right behind them. Elinor's eyes narrowed upon her daughter as Merida squeaked and said:

"Oh hi, Mum! Uh...Well...We're just…"

Elinor's eyes narrowed all the more, until she saw who was speaking to her daughter and nephew.

"Headmaster!?"

"Ah, Elinor!" North greeted warmly as he extended a hand. "Long time no see!"

Elinore looked to him, then to her daughter, then back again.

"No!" she shouted as she pointed to North. "No, no, no! I know what you're doing! No!"

"But, Mum!" Merida pouted.

"No, Merida, you are not going to Beacon! And neither are you!" Elinor pointed to Hiccup.

"But, why not!?" Merida shouted.

"You are staying on Berk where it is safe," Elinor said.

"Safe?" the faunus scoffed. "For how long?"

"Bunnymund?" Elinor gasped.

"Hiya, fluffy."

"Don't call me that!"

"Fluffy!?" Merida snickered. "Is there a story y'forgot to tell me, Mum."

"No, there is not," Elinor's eyes narrowed at Bunnymund as she crossed her arms. Bunnymund flicked his eyes down at her hands, then back up at her.

"Why are you here?" Elinor asked the rabbit-eared man, but he ignored her and instead said:

"Hm. Nice manicure."

"Shut up!" Elinor stamped her foot.

"Nice dress, too. D'yah pay a full day's salary on that?"

Elinor chose to ignore the faunus and instead pointed a finger into North's face. "Don't think I don't know what this is really about!"

"Elinor," North sighed.

"Really about?" Hiccup asked.

"You two, home, now!" Elinor ordered.

"Bu-"

"NOW Merida!"

Merida all but growled as she crossed her arms and stomped off, muttering about how "ridiculously narrow-midned, nosey, controlling," and other such things that her mother was.

"You too, Hiccup," Elinor barked at her nephew who just sighed and followed along behind the angry red-head.

"Well, seems you've been enjoying the luxurious high-life as a governor's wife, eh?" Bunnymund asked once the two teens were gone.

"And what if I am?" Elinor crossed her arms. "It's none of your business. What is MY business, however, is you two recruiting my daughter and nephew to that suicide school of yours behind my back!"

"You used to enjoy it there," Bunnymund scoffed.

"Because it was the first time I had gotten a full meal, a warm place to sleep, and a hint of security," Elinor answered. "My sisters and I went to Beacon to escape the streets. Nothing more, nothing less."

"And yet you fell in love with the huntress lifestyle," Bunnymund stated.

"No, I did not!" Elinor argued. "Valka did. Gerda did. I never loved it. I tolerated it. It was a means to an end."

"Oh, come off it!" Bunnymund scoffed. "We all know you're lying!"

"Oh?" Elinor arched an eyebrow. "Then why did you-"

She turned to North.

"-Select them instead of-"

"I offered you a chance," North reminded her. "You and Gerda turned it down."

"For good reason," Elinor nodded. "Which is why I will not allow either of those children to go to your school."

"So what?" Bunnymund shrugged. "You'll hold them here until they reach the age of 18 and then they'll go and enroll themselves?"

"No they won't!"

"Yes they will. Especially that girl of yours. She's biting at the bit to go!"

"I have worked to hard to get myself and my family to this point," Elinor shouted. "Yes, your school gave me the tools I needed to make something of myself. But I want better for my daughter. And better she will have!"

"By who's terms?" Bunnymund asked. "And how much better?"

"Well, we're not in the streets. Nor battling nightmare after nightmare just to stay alive."

"But for how long?" Bunnymund asked as he stepped closer to Elinor, lowering his voice. "You know what's out there. You know what's at stake if we don't stop it."

"And that's why I won't let her go," Elinor answered, no longer angry, but sincere. "I already lost two sisters to this fight I will not lose my daughter. Or my nephew."

"It's not your choice," Bunnymund state. "And besides, Valka's still out there. Somewhere."

"Is she?" Elinor asked in a dark, sad voice.

Bunnymund sniffed, a half smile spreading across her face. "Alright. What's left of her is still out there."

Elinor sighed and hung her head, hugging herself tight.

"You had every right to leave the front lines," North said as he walked to Elinor's side and set a hand on her shoulder. "You did well in your time out there. You earned a rest. But you have not earned the right to deny your daughter nor your son to live their own lives."

"Live their own lives?" Elinor scoffed pulling away. "I'm keeping them from dying in your pointless war!"

And with that she stormed off.

Or started to.

"Keep them here as long as you can," Bunnymund called after her. "But sooner or later they will come here. Berk won't be safe forever. So what will it be? Have them fight to the death here alone on your precious island? Or let them fight now alongside like-minded warriors and maybe even keep this threat from ever spreading."

Elinor paused. She didn't look over her shoulder. She didn't say a word. She just stopped, then straightened her shoulders and walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

AN: Gerda's an OC...because I couldn't think of a good character from a different film to fill in as Snotlout's mom. Don't worry, she's probably not going to come up too much because...well, just read the chapter…

"He's got a point, y'know?" Gobber said as he sipped on his glass of mead. He, Elinor, Fergus, and Stoick sat in the living room of the DunBroch house. Elinor had just finish fuming about the whole situation to them. Unknown to any of the adults, Hiccup and Merida were listening in from Merida's bedroom. When they were little they found out that the strange stone strip in her bedroom wall was a part of the chimney (which wasn't that hard to put together, actually) and that when they sat close to it they could hear what the adults were saying downstairs.

That is when Merida's brothers were quiet.

"Would you three pipe down?" Merida hissed to the three wild boys running down the hall and screaming at the top of their lungs, glaring at them as Hiccup kept his ear to the chimney.

"... who is to say that their experience will be like ours?" Fergus continued from downstairs.

"Hmph!" Elinor scoffed.

Merida pressed her ear back to the door.

Downstairs Fergus' eyes darkened as he glanced at his wife.

"It's not like what happened that day was North's fault, anyways," he whispered. "It seems a bit unfair to keep blaming him-"

"Unfair?" Elinor sniffed. "He knew what he was sending us into!"

"And we knew what we were walking into," Stoick finally spoke up. The larger man had been strangely the whole night since Elinor had told her story. He'd been staring at his feet, stroking his beard, lost in silent contemplation.

"Or, so we thought," Stoick added as he sipped on his glass.

Upstairs, Merida turned to Hiccup. "What's your dad talking about?"

"I dunno," Hiccup shrugged.

"Exactly," Elinor's voie drew the two teenagers back to the chimney to listen.. "We were foolish youngsters then, full of absurd ideas of heroism and glory! How could we have known what…" she shook her head to rid herself of the memories. "But North? He knew! He'd sent several of young ones just like us right into similar fights, many of them to their deaths! And he still has the nerve to waltz in here and try to take our children!"

"Similar fights?" Fergus scoffed. "Everyone who has ever heard about it has said that those things came out of nowhere! We had no way of preparing!"

"What things?" Hiccup asked as he turned back to his cousin.

Merida shrugged. "Some sort of Grimm?"

"How come they never told us about it?" Hiccup asked.

"Because they never tell us anything about their huntsmen days," Merida sniffed.

"True."

The two teens were so busy talking that they missed Elinor spitting off on some other rant, but came back in time to hear:

"Only the elite are chosen to go on those mission, Elinor," Gobber corrected her. "And we thought we were the elite. We begged him to go, remember? His only mistake was granting our wish."

"Exactly. It was his mistake for allowing us to go, but what did it cost him?" Elinor asked. "Nothing! What did it cost us?"

The three men fell silent.

"It cost Fergus his leg," Elinor finally answered. "Gobber, it cost you a leg and an arm. And Gerda…"

A lump caught in Elinor's throat, forcing her to clear it before she continued in a soft, sad voice. "It cost my baby sister her life. Spitelout his wife. Snotlout his mother."

Hiccup and Merida stared wide-eyed at one another. Of course they'd known that their aunt Gerda had died on a mission. They'd known that Fergus lost his leg on a mission. They'd known that Gobber lost his arm and leg on a mission. But they never knew it had all been the same mission.

"Alvin eventually lost his sanity after that," Elinor continued.

"Alvin? Who's Alvin?" Hiccup whispered to Merida. She shrugged.

"...and Valka…"

Merida gasped and turned to look at Hiccup. He flinched as he set a hand against his vest. No one ever talked about his mother much. Not Stoick. Not Elinor. No one. She was a mystery. A shadow that hung over everyone but that no one had the courage to address.

"Well, who knows what happened in that mind of hers in the days afterwards. And in the end team SFVE (safe) and team GGAS (gas) were no more. We could have lost everything that day."

A silence fell over the room, only broken by an occasional sip on a glass as the two teenagers upstairs thought over the conversation they'd just eavesdropped on. They'd always known that their parents were once on a team together, team SVFE. But the team dissolved after Hiccup's mother...disappeared. They'd never known that Gobber, their uncle Spitelout, and their aunt Gerda had been on a team together, though. They had both guessed that this Alvin figure the adults had discussed was the fourth member, but who was he?

"But we didn't," Gobber finally said. "We survived. We're still here."

"And at what cost?" Elinor asked. "Yes, team DMNS (demons) managed to save what was left of us from that hell hole-"

"Team DMNS?" both teenagers exclaimed to one another.

"Well, I guess it makes sense. They would have been at Beacon the same time our parents were," Hiccup said.

"But they're legendary!" Merida gasped. "Well, were. Whatever happened to the third one after it all went down?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I dunno. He kinda disappeared after-"

"... but in the process Martha was killed," Elinor's voice rose up from the chimney.

Hiccup and Merida gasped as their jaws dropped open.

THAT mission? THAT was the mission their parents were talking about? THEIR PARENTS WERE INVOLVED IN THAT!?

Everyone had heard the tale. Two huntsmen teams went into a massive Grimm cove to hopefully find the source of the creatures and destroy it. After weeks of not hearing from them team DMNS went in to save them and complete the mission. They were successful. They were able to close the crevice the Grimm had been crawling out of and rescue the still living members of the two original teams sent, but in the process one of their members, Martha Lubove was killed.

Their parents had been on the two original teams!

"Why did they never tell us this!?" Merida hissed.

"But it was technically a successful mission," Gobber said, drawing Hiccup and Merida back to the chimney. "We managed to-"

"And at what cost?" Elinor asked.

"Two women, two wives and mothers died that day. Who will die next for him? I will not let it be Hiccup or Merida!"

Both teenagers flinched. Though they couldn't see her, they could feel the grief in Elinor's voice.

"You know Headmaster North didn't want Gerda or Martha to die," Stoick whispered, almost too soft for Hiccup and Merida to hear.

"What?" Fergus asked.

"He never meant for them to be killed. And who could have imagined Alvin would just...lose it after that. And Valka...well…"

Hiccup cringed again at the mention of his mother's name.

"So you are saying that you want them to go to Bea-"

"No, I'm not," Stoick answered firmly. "They'd be killed before they got to their first class!"

"Oh, you don't know that," Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I do."

"You don't."

"I do."

"Y'don't."

"I actually do."

"No, y'don't!"

"Well," Merida sighed. "At least Gobber's on our side."

"All I'm saying is that it's unfair to blame North for what happened," Stoick continued. "We were stupid kids he thought we knew what we were doing. Obviously we didn't. That's why we have to keep them here where it's safe."

A Beowulf howled in the distance, causing the teenagers look out a window for a glimpse of the beast. It was too dark and too foggy to see anything though..

"Safe, eh?" Gobber scoffed drawing the two back to the chimney.

"Sounds like a big one," he sighed. "The Grimm are getting stronger. I know you've all noticed. We may be old but we're not that blind yet!"

"Bunnymund was right," Stoick sighed. "It will only be a matter of time before things take a turn for the worse."

"So you DO want them-" Elinor began, but Stoick cut her off.

"No, I do not! Hiccup is many things, but a huntsman is not one of them."

Hiccup sighed and slumped to the floor. This was hopeless! He was never getting off this stupid island!

"And how do'ya know that if you never let him try?" Gobber asked.

"Gobber-"

"He's gonna go for it. Merida too. It might be in a few years when they no longer need yer approval, but they'll go for it."

"What do you-"

"Elinor, you can't stop her. Neither can Fergus. And Stoick, you can't stop Hiccup," Gobber said. Merida and Hiccup glanced at one another. They actually hadn't thought much about what they'd do once they reached 18, but that was a pretty good plan.

"All any of us can do is prepare them. If I do say so myself, I think the four of us together have done a fairly good job of that. Both those kids are neck in neck for the top of their classes right now...Eh, combat wise. Still need to work on Merida's studying and academic skills, but combat wise she's set."

Hiccup snickered.

"Shut it, nerd boy!" Merida hissed as Gobber continued.

"My point is that we have done all we can for them at this point. It's time we hand them over to someone who can better prepare them for what's out there."

"But-"

"No, lass," Fergus sighed sadly as he set a hand on Elinor's. "He has a point."

"So we're just going to let them go!?" Elinor screamed.

"If we don't let them go now they'll just go when they're 18," Stoick sighed. "And then we might never hear from them again."

Merida and Hiccup gasped as they turned to each other. Was this really happening?

"But Stoick aren't you worried that he will be-" Elinor protested as Stoick cut her off.

"Of course I am! But what more can I do! We barely speak anymore! I never get to see him because he's always in his room when he's not sneaking out to observe the Grimm in their natural habitat, whatever that means! I'm losing him, and if I deny him this well, then…" Stoick huffed as he took another gulp of mead.

Hiccup sighed. He hadn't realized…

His father had never liked him, and Hiccup couldn't blame him. He...well, he wasn't exactly the best a son could be. There were...several complications in the relationship between him and Stoick. He'd actually thought things were better now that they weren't talking. It was better than the constant criticisms and looks of disappointment. If he'd known he was hurting his dad, though...

"Your drunk, it's the mead talking," Elinor scoffed at her brother in law.

"I'm not drunk," Stoick argued. "Yet anyways. And like Fergus said, there's no guarantee that what happened to us will happen to them."

"But if it does-"

"We can always pull them back out," Fergus stated. "We'll just keep a close eye on them."

Elinor sighed and angrily crossed her arms. She knew they were right, but that doesn't mean she liked it.

"Fine, but at the first sign that he is pulling any of his-"

"We'll pull them out," Fergus assured her. "Besides, maybe they'll get there and realize the huntsman life isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Merida and Hiccup gasped and looked back at each other. This was actually happening! They were actually going to go to Beacon!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"I've already set up monthly nail appointments for you at a nearby salon-"

"AUGH! MUM!" Merida groaned as the whole family stood at the Berk air station. Hiccup and Merida would take an airship to a port city in Anima. From there they'd hop a train to Mistral to catch an airship to Vale, only to catch another one straight to Beacon.

"Make sure you go!" Elinor warned. "I've given them strict orders to call me if you don't show up."

"I'm gonna be a huntress," Merida protested. "I won't have time-"

"It's not too late for you to stay home young lady!"

"UGH, FINE!"

A strange look crossed Elinor's face. She reached out, grabbed her daughter, and drew her into a tight hug.

"Uh...Mum…?"

"Stay safe," Elinor begged before letting Merida go. She then quickly walked away so that Merida couldn't see the tears in her eyes. Merida was just about to call after her mother when she saw Hiccup walking up to her, Stoick behind him. The two Haddock men just stood awkwardly on the station platform, not saying a word to one another.

"Hi, cous!" Merida waved brightly as she walked to Hiccup's side, undeterred by the awkward situation. It had been that way between the two Haddocks for as long as she could remember.

"Hi," Hiccup smiled and waved back to her.

"And here we are!" Gobber's voice rang out as he hobbled along, leading six teenagers along behind him. While the DunBrochs and the Haddocks had been getting ready for Merida and Hiccup's departure the regular trials had been going on. Gobber was now leading those few handpicked individuals to the stations. "Now with these six and Hiccup and Merida we've got eight in total."

"Eight!" Stoick beamed. "I can't think of the last time we had so many representatives from Berk going to Beacon."

"Yes, well," Gobber scratched at the back of his head with his hook. "Six of them are from Berk, two are outsiders who joined the trials."

"Really?" Stoick arched an eyebrow.

"Really?" Merida and Hiccup both gasped. It had been about four years since the last outsider had made the cut. The two couldn't even remember the last time two had made it. Had that ever happened before.

"Indeed, headmaster," Gobber nodded.

"Well, let's see these two impressive youngsters," Stoick cheered.

Gobber waved to the line of teenagers behind him.

A girl with a long blond braid that came to her ankles came skipping forward. She had green eyes, a dusting of freckles, and she was wearing a purple cotton dress that looked to be homemade. There was not a stitch of armor on her. She was barefoot. And she had a freshly picked flower crown on her head that she'd no doubt made from whatever wild flowers she found on the side of the road while trekking from the arena to the station. She looked nothing like a huntress to be.

Merida and Hiccup arched an eyebrow and exchanged glances. This girl had beat out everyone else for a spot in Beacon?

"Hi! Rapunzel Corona, nice to meet you!" she said brightly as she stuck out her hand for Stoick to shake.

"Headmaster Stoick Haddock, a pleasure to meet you."

Rapunzel smiled as she looked past Stoick to see who the lucky two to be personally selected were.

"Oooohhhh!" she squealed when she saw Merida. "Another girl!"

She dove and tackle-hugged the red head, nearly knocking Merida on her back.

"We're gonna be best friends!" Rapunzel squealed. "I can already tell!"

"Oh, goodie!" Merida grumbled as she rolled her eyes. If she got put on a team with this girl once they got to Beacon, so help her…

Hiccup bit back his laughter as he turned to see the other outsider who'd made it through. A boy dressed in a blue vest with a very badly damaged silver chest plate stepped forward, a sword slung over his shoulder. He had dark brown hair and eyes, and walked with a lazy swagger that made him look a bit...well...jerk-ish.

"Flynn Rider, how ya doin'?" the boy said as he leaned forward and held out one hand.

Stoick arched an eyebrow, obviously not impressed by this boy's attitude, but shook it nonetheless.

"So, you're one of the 'chosen ones,'" Flynn said as he approached Hiccup, sizing him up and down. "Not quite what I was expecting…"

"Erm…" Hiccup nervously tugged at his vest.

Flynn shrugged then headed aboard the airship.

"C'mon, Blondie," he called to Rapunzel, who then finally let go of Merida and followed along behind Flynn, humming to herself. The two cousins looked to each other.

"They seemed…" Hiccup began.

"Odd?" Merida suggested. "Annoying? Gonna be a pain in our ar-"

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded before turning and looking to see who the four actually from Beacon to pass the trials were. "Though I think I'd take them over this crew."

"Wha-" Merida looked behind her, then loudly groaned. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Snotlout, MacIntosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall," Stoick congratulated the four teenage boys. "Go and make Berk proud!"

"Why do my four school bullies have to go with me?" Hiccup lamented.

"At least three of them aren't trying to shag ya," Merida grumbled just as MacIntosh noticed her and blew her a kiss with a wink.

"Ugh," Merida groaned. "I'm goin' on board before I vomit!"

And with that she turned and left. After he was done congratulating his four former students, Stoick turned and faced his son. Hiccup shifted uneasily under his father's gaze.

"Train hard," Stoick said as he patted Hiccup on the shoulder. "I'll be here when you get back. Probably."

"I'll be back," Hiccup nodded, before turning and walking on the ship. "Hopefully


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

AN: For those of you who read the last version of this I've changed Peaches's semblance. You'll see to what in the chapter. Also, this chapter was a pain in the butt to write because so much gets introduced and set up in it. I tried to make it as cohesive as possible, but if it's kinda meh I apologize. Next chapter should be a bit more fun.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now landing in the Kingdom of Mistral. Please remain seated until-"

"OOOOOHHHH, look, there it is!"

"What part of remain seated did you not understand you crazy blonde!?"

Hiccup and Merida both turned and sighed at the sound of Rapunzel and Flynn bickering once again in the seats behind them. More specifically Rapunzel all but leaning out of the airship window to get a glimpse of Mistral while Flynn tried to wrestle her back into her seat. Merida rolled her eyes and slumped back in her chair, ironically at the same time Flynn managed to wrangle Rapunzel back into hers. Hiccup sighed as he closed his book. Well, they'd be landing soon and he'd be spending the next four years with these two. Might as well make some conversation and get to know them a little better.

"So...you two know each other I'm guessing?"

"In a manner of speaking," Flynn answered. "I met her three days ago actually. Once she found out I was going to Berk for the trials she held me hostage until I agreed to take her with me."

Hiccup chuckled.

"Oh, you think I'm kidding," Flynn's eyes widened a bit. "Not at all joking, my compadre. This chick is psycho! Don't let the cute little flower crowns and origami animals fool you."

"Uh-huh," Hiccup nodded slowly, deciding he actually did have a little more time to read and pulling his book back out.

"OH! I love that one!" Rapunzel suddenly gasped and dove over to all but snatch the book from Hiccup. "Who's your favorite character? Nora is like my spirit animal!"

"Ya don't say," Hiccup muttered sarcastically before answering. "I dunno. I kinda like Blake and Pyrrah."

"Oh, I love them too! Still salty about her death though!"

"Wait, what! One of the dies!?"

Rapunzel gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh, you didn't get to that part yet!? I'm so sorry!"

"Oh, bummer man," Flynn clicked his tongue. "Spoilers are the worse!"

"Ugh, as if I needed more nerds around me," Merida grumbled just as the airship landed. "Finally, I can get off this tin can!"

Hiccup packed his book up, grumbling about spoilers as he followed along behind Merida. They'd just gotten off the airship and onto the platform when Hiccup felt a strong hand on the scruff of his shirt. He didn't even have time to react as he and Merida were slammed against a wall.

"Alright, you two, spill it!"

Hiccup didn't even have to look up to know that it was Snotlout.

"Spill what!?" Merida shouted. "Let us go freak!"

"How did you two bribe your way into this school?" Snotlout yelled at them.

"We didn't bribe our way," Hiccup said. "Headmaster North saw us fighting a group of bandits and decided to let us skip the trials."

"Ha! Like I'm gonna buy that baloney story!"

"Fine, then ask him when we get there," Merida said. "Now let us go!"

"Fine," Snotlout said. "Only it's not going to be us, because it's just going to be me."

He let his two cousins go, then used his semblance to reach straight through their bags and grab their tickets.

"Hey!" Merida said jumping to grab her ticket from him.

"Ha! You two can't get on the ship to Vale with these, so I guess you'll have to go back home. Or stay here and be street beggars. You'd be better off doing that than being huntsmen!"

"Snotlout, give them back!" Hiccup demanded.

"Um, no," Snotlout said. "No way am I letting you two go to Beacon," he turned and began running off, but stopped when he saw Flynn and Rapunzel walking by him. "And that goes for you two, too! Two-too? Um, yeah!"

He used his semblance to take their tickets as well.

"Hey, my ticket!" Rapunzel squealed.

"Get back here!" Flynn shouted.

"Nope! You losers ain't gettin' in my school. This is my time!" Snotlout yelled as he took off running.

Merida, Hiccup, Flynn, and Rapunzel chased after him as he cheered.

"Snotlout, Snoutlout! Oi! Oi! Oi-AAUGGGHHH!"

A burst of pink shot straight by, no, over Snotlout. The four chasing him stopped and stared.

"Are those...peach blossom petals?" Rapunzel asked as the dash of pink whirled back around and shot past the four pursuers, leaving Snotlout absolutely stunned and ragged looking.

"Erm...what was that?" Snotlout asked in a shaky voice before clearing his voice. "Whatever! Doesn't matter, you ain't getting these-" he held up his hand to show off the tickets, only to find that he was holding onto nothing but thin air. "WAH! Where'd they go!?"

"You lost our tickets!?" Merida shrieked.

"Oh, this is bad!" Flynn's voice quivered.

"Looking for these?" A voice called from behind the group of confused and scared teenagers. They all turned to find a rather tall girl dressed in a green kimono style shirts and a pleated, leather brown skirt, standing behind them. She had light brown skin, striking green eyes, and dark red hair. The most striking feature, however, were a pair of mammoth ears sticking out from either side of her head. She wore a smirk on her face as she held up the four tickets.

Hiccup, Merida, Flynn, and Rapunzel let out sighs of reliefs. Snotlout, however, fumed.

"Hey, gimme those back!" he shouted as he raced past the four other teens, knocking them over. He ran up to the girl and reached the tickets. Just when his hand was within inches of them the girl burst into a flutter of peach blossom petals and darted over Snotlout again. The cluster of petals flew over Hiccup, Merida, Rapunzel, and Flynn before shooting into the air and then settling over the railing of the second story of the station. The girl rematerialized upon the railing and squatted down on top of it, balancing as skillfully and effortlessly as if she were on the flat ground.

"Would you stop doing that!" Snotlout shouted. "And gimme my tickets back!"

"Your tickets?" the girl asked, arching an eyebrow. "Is your name…" she began reading the tickets. "Rapunzel Corona, Flynn Rider, Hiccup Haddock, or Merida Dunbroch?"

"Um…" Snotlout grumbled.

"No it's not, 'cuz your name is Snotlout," the girl answered.

"Hey, how'd you know that!?" Snotlout asked. "Is your semblance to read minds?"

"No, she already showed us her semblance, you dolt!" Merida slapped Snotlout on the back of the head.

"And your name's on the back of your jacket," the girl arched an eyebrow as she responded.

Hiccup held a hand to his mouth to hold back a chuckle as Snotlout turned to look at the golden words spelling "Snotlout" along the back of his black, leather jacket.

"Shut up, Hiccup," Snotlout grumbled.

"Hey, ya'll going to Beacon?" the girl called with a bright smile. "Me too!"

"That so," Hiccup stated.

"Oh, sure, figures to girl with the zip zoom semblance that knocks folks into next week would wanna be a huntress," Flynn said.

"Peaches, where'd you go?" a voice called as a girl with dark skin, golden blond hair styled in hundreds of tiny braids, amber eyes, and a lion's tail ran up on the group.

"Up here!" the girl with the mammoth ears waved.

The girl with the lion tail looked up and set her hands on her hips. "Would you get down here? We've been looking all over for you!"

"Y'all tore down the whole station in the five minutes I was gone?" the girl with the mammoth ears asked in a sarcastic voice.

"Just get down," the lion faunus girl sighed.

The mammoth faunus girl shrugged her shoulders, burst into petals again, and shot down to the ground level next to the other faunus girl.

"Show off," the lion tailed girl grumbled as the other one stuck her tongue out at her.

"Um, can we have our tickets back now?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, right, sure," the mammoth faunus girl said as she held the tickets out. Snotlout dove for them, but she jerked them out of his reach.

"Not you!"" she shouted pulled a mace out from the pleats of her skirt, and whacked him over the head with it. The lion girl just face-palmed.

"Okay, is it just me or is she kinda scary?" Flynn asked as he and the other three went forward to collect their tickets.

"I apologize for her, she's a bit crazy," the lion faunus girl said.

"Hey! I was helping them!" the mammoth faunus girl protested.

"I'm Kiara Prideland," the lion girl smiled as she held her hand out to Hiccup, Merida, Rapunzel, and Flynn. "And speedy-flower-power here is Peaches Era-Neve."

"Hi," Peaches waved and smiled brightly.

"Nice to meet both of you," Hiccup greeted politely.

"And thanks again!" Rapunzel called.

"Hey, um," Flynn tapped Rapunzel on the shoulder. "You don't happen to know where platform 913 is, do you? 'Cuz your boy has never been in this station and he is lost!"

"Nope!" Rapunzel answered.

"Eh, to be honest I don't either," Merida said.

"Hey, just come with us," Peaches offered. "We're all going the same place anyways."

"Oh, you're going to Beacon, too?" Kiara asked, eyes brightening.

"Yup!" Rapunzel answered.

"Then, yeah, come with us," Kiara said as she waved for them to tag along. "We need to get back soon anyways because your parents' train is due any minute," Kiara said as she turned back to Peaches.

"Nice! Your mom or dad heard how their mission went yet?" Peaches asked Kiara.

"Not sure. My dad got a call on his scroll right as you took off but I'm not sure if it was them."

Hiccup and Merida exchanged a glance, shrugged, and followed along after the two faunus girls. Though their parents didn't want them becoming huntsmen they supposed it wasn't that unusual for there to be multiple generations of huntsmen within a family. Kiara and Peaches lead them up several flights of steps as Kiara talked to someone, or several someone's from the sound of it on her scroll.

"Yeah, yeah, I found her...we're heading back to the platform...okay, see you soon…"

They continued down past several airship platforms until Kiara and Peaches led them onto one particular platform with the number 913 hanging on a sign over it. Dingwall, MacIntosh, and MacGuffin had already arrived. Standing alongside them upon the platform were two short kids, a girl and a boy, each with messy brown hair and accompanied by two older, grey haired men. In the center were three other lion faunus, a man, a woman, and a little boy. It was the two adults that caught Hiccup and Merida's eyes.

"Hiccup, that's not…" Merida began.

"HOLY SMOKES, THAT'S TEAM DMNS!" Flynn shouted, holding a hand to either side of his face before adding a, "Well, what's left of them."

"Say it louder, why don't you?" Hiccup asked sarcastically. "Not sure everyone on the platform quite got that!"

"No, pretty sure they did," the adult male faunus said as he approached the gaggle of teenagers. He had the same dark complexion as Kiara, but his hair was a bright, fiery red.

"Hey, Dad, found her," Kiara said brightly as she shoved Peaches in front of her.

"DAD!?" Flynn screeched.

"Will you shut it!" Merida whacked him on the back of the head.

"So, wait!" Flynn held his hands up, completely undeterred by Merida's slap. "So if your parents are from team DMNS, does that mean your parents are from team MSDE (masquerade)?"

"Yup," Peaches nodded.

"HOLY-"

"Shut it!" Merida slapped him again.

"Well, glad we found you," Kiara's dad said as he playfully patted Peaches on the head. "I'd hate to have to explain to your folks that I lost you."

"I'm fine!" Peaches protested. "I can take care of myself!"

"Who're team DMNS and team MSDE?" Rapunzel asked.

"You don't know who team DMNS and MSDE are?" Flynn asked in an astonished voice.

Rapunzel nervously twirled her hair. "Remember? I don't really get out much."

"Well, allow me to educate you, blondie-" Flynn threw an arm around her shoulder as he began recounting the story. Hiccup and Merida just glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Getting to meet two members of one of the most infamous teams to ever graduate Beacon was surreal, but not in the way it would have been for most others. Their parents were part of the reason one of their team members died and the other one went into hiding. Suddenly getting to meet two legendary heroes wasn't as sweet.

"Oh, Mom, Dad, these are Hiccup Haddock, Merida DunBroch, Flynn Rider, and Rapunzel Corona," Kiara said as she gestured to each of them. "They're going to Beacon too. Guys, these are my parents, Simba and Nala Prideland. And that's my little brother Kion."

Hiccup and Merida both stiffened. They hoped neither Simba or Nala would recognize their last names.

"I gonna go to Beacon too!" Kion declared as he bounced towards the teenagers. "But not until I'm older."

"Look forward to seeing you there, little man," Flynn smiled and shook Kion's hand.

"DunBroch and Haddock, huh?" Nala asked as she turned towards Merida and Hiccup.

"Uh...uh...uh…" Hiccup stuttered.

"Were your parents on team SVFE back in the day?" Nala asked.

"Uuuuhhhh Mmm..." Hiccup squeaked.

"Y-yes," Merida answered in a quiet voice. "They, erm-"

"We went to school with them," Simba said as he walked towards the two very nervous cousins. "Even collaborated on some missions. They were fine huntsmen."

He held his hand out to them. Hiccup and Merida exchanged another wary glance before Hiccup reached forward to shake it.

"I'm looking forward to watching you to begin your journeys," Simba said in a kind, warm voice, though he did give Hiccup's vest a strange glance. Hiccup pulled his hand back and tugged at the fur piece of clothing. Simba then shook Merida's hand, giving her perfectly manicured nails another odd glance.

"You know there's no way you'll be able to keep those on a mission, right?" he asked.

"Try telling my mother that," Merida scoffed.

Simba's eyes darkened a bit, but he smiled and shook her hand one more time before releasing it.

"Hey, um, Uncle Simba?" Peaches asked. "Have you heard from my parents by any chance?"

Simba let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, right after you took off your dad called."

Peaches' ears lowered and her gaze darkened. "Did they not save her?"

"No, they got her out, but...well…" Simba's voice became lost as the whirling of an airship engine filled the air.

"Save her?" Rapunzel asked, rejoining the circle of conversation now that Flynn had finished telling her team DMNS's story.

"My parents' last mission was to try to help some woman leave the White Fang," Peaches' explained.

A shudder went through the four teenagers at the mention of the terrorist group.

"Leave the White Fang?" Rapunzel asked.

"They don't exactly take kindly to their members quitting," Peaches further explained. "Their almost like a cult. Once you join it can be almost impossible to get out. My parents, Simba, and Nala kinda specialize in helping faunus escape."

"I guess that makes sense," Hiccup nodded. "If anyone would know how to escape it would be them."

"Well, it's been getting a lot harder the past few years," Simba sighed as he crossed his arms, causing Hiccup to jump. He didn't realize Simba was still listening to them.

"My uncle has gotten more and more controlling and radical," Simba added clenching his fists. Nala set a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kiara bit her lip as she lowered her head.

"Oh…" Flynn lowered his voice as he pulled Rapunzel aside out of earshot of the Prideland family. "Yeah, one thing I forgot to mention. The first White Fang leader, the good one, was Simba's father. And the current, bad one is his uncle."

Rapunzel gasped. "He killed his own brother!"

"More than just his brother," Flynn scoffed. "Pretty much all of the faunus on his brother's side. Drove a stampede of Grimm right into their camp. Team DMNS, team MSDE and a handful of others were the only survivors. Hence how the ended up at Beacon. They had nowhere else to go."

The airship finally touched down, the whirling stopped, and the doors slid opened. A throng of people began spilling out, forcing everyone waiting on the platform to dodge the crowd. Once almost everyone else had filed out came a sight that made everyone in the waiting party gasp. Even MacGuffin, Dingwall, and MacIntosh stopped in their usual competitive gossip to turn and look. And the two short brunette teens and the two older men who had been by themselves off in a corner began to slowly inch forward.

A faunus woman with short, jet black hair, several piercings in her ears, pale skin, and two long canine teeth jutting from her upper jaw and over her chin came stumbling forward, a bloody bandage covering the entire upper portion of her face, from the point of her nose to her hairline. A man with the same long teeth as her, dirty blond hair, tanned skin, and green eyes held her right hand and spoke softly to her, guiding her out of the ship. A tall woman who looked like an older version of Peaches, only with lighter, honey colored red hair instead of the dark burgundy of her daughter held the injured woman's left hand.

"Watch your step here," the blond man said as they finally made their way onto the platform. The injured one almost tripped at the step off from the ship, but her two companions caught her and helped her stay on her feet.

Two more men came out behind them, one tall the other short. The tall man also had a set of mammoth ears coming from the side of his head, and his hair was the dark color as Peaches. He carried a beat up, wooden trunk with what looked like fresh blood stains marring it over his shoulder. He set it down on the platform, and the first two members of his team guided their injured companion to it.

"Here's your stuff, just sit down on it," the blond man instructed.

The injured woman faltered a little bit, obviously afraid to try and sit because she couldn't see if she would miss and fall or not.

"Just straight down, that's it," the blond man instructed as she finally sat down and let out a sigh of relief.

The last of the faunus to come out of the airship shuffled forward, carrying a white cloak that was now stained in blood with him. He set the cloak over the injured woman's shoulders. It was only then that Hiccup, Merida, Flynn, and Rapunzel noticed that he had long, brown sloth claws where his fingers should have been.

"Ish gonna be okay," he said as he patted the injured woman's shoulder. "We made it to Mishtral. You're shafe."

Hiccup felt a lump forming in his throat. He'd never met this woman but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Blind, injured, and all because she wanted to leave a group she'd probably joined in her youth. At least, that's what the books and articles he'd read told him, that most White Fang members were enlisted when they were young, desperate, knew no better, and just looking for a place to belong.

"...never seen anything like it before…"

Hiccup turned. The mammoth eared-woman had moved to the side to speak to Nala. They spoke in low voices, most of the conversation muffled by the background noise of the busy station, but he was able to pick up bits and pieces of it.

"...broke all of our auras with a few hits. Even Manny's…"

"...targeting her?"

"Looked like it...took them both…don't think we can save them..."

"...with the...?"

"Not sure..."

Hiccup frowned a little. He assumed they were talking about the woman's eyes. So this was the price she was forced to pay to change her mind and move on with her life? Both her eyes? A pretty harsh fee for a little freedom.

He turned back to the injured woman as she drew the cloak closer around her shoulders. Simba slowly approached her and knelt in front of her.

"You must be Shira Black," he said. "I'm glad we got you out of there."

"And you are?" Shira asked.

"Simba Prideland."

"Oh," she didn't seem excited, or disappointed. Just...there. Maybe she's numb? Hiccup thought to himself. He certainly would be if he'd lost a part of his body all of a sudden.

"Dad?" Hiccup turned to find Peaches standing next to her father as he took off a heavy, leather jacket he'd been wearing, revealing a set of bandages on both of his arms.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Yup," her father answered, despite the fact he was wincing. "Just a bit of backlash, I'll be fine."

"Hash your aura comeback yet?" the sloth faunus asked. "'Cuz Shira's still hasn't. Maybe you could-"

"That's not how it works, and you know it," Peaches' father cut the sloth faunus off in an annoyed but strangely sad voice.

"Why hasn't your aura come back?" Rapunzel asked as she approached Shira.

Shira jumped, culling a cutlass out of a sheath at her side.

"Who's that!?" she asked loudly.

"Easy," the blond faunus with the long teeth said as he set a hand on top of hers. "It's just some kid. You're fine."

"Maybe I can help?" Rapunzel offered as she walked forward and held a hand in front of Shira's face. The aura on Rapunzel's hand began to glow a bright golden color. Suddenly Shira's aura began to sputter in and out. Rapunzel's brow crinkled in confusion.

"Huh. It's usually not this tough for me to restore someone's aura…" she concentrated harder and Shira's aura came into full view, glowing a brilliant white color. "There, that should do it."

Shira let out a sigh of relief and set a hand over the bandages.

"Does that help?" Rapunzel asked hopefully.

"A bit," Shira nodded. "But it doesn't bring my eyes back…"

"Ahem," Everyone turned to find one of the older men accompanying the two brunette teens walking towards Shira.

"I don't mean to intrude but I couldn't help but overhearing and I think I may be of some assistance," he said as he approached Shira. "Allow me to introduce myself, Stanford Filbrick Pines. I happen to have extensive knowledge on constructing prosthetics. I might be able to whip up something that will help you see again."

"I...I don't have anyway to pay you-" Shira began.

"Free of charge," Stanford said with a wave of his hand.

"What?"

"You had the courage to leave the White Fang. Sounds to me like you've already earned yourself a new set of eyes."

Shira hung her head, but managed to whisper a, "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," the blond haired man said as he held out his hand to shake. "It's not often you see a human worried so much about the White Fang or the faunus trying to escape it."

"And that's a darn shame," Stanford stated.

Hiccup shifted his feet uneasily as he listened on.

"But really, it should be me thanking you. It's not easy being a huntsman these days, so I'm glad that there are still some genuinely good folks out there fighting the good fight. Makes me feel better about sending my niece and nephew off to Beacon."

"Ah," the blond man nodded. "Well, they're going to the best of the best."

"So I've heard."

"Diego Saber, by the way."

"A pleasure," Stanford then turned to all the teenagers on the platform. "I'm assuming all of you are heading to Beacon?"

"Yes sir," they all answered.

"Well, lookee there!" the other older man who had been with Stanford and the two brunettes said. "You guys can get a head start on making some friends!"

"Oh, goodie," the boy said in a bit of a worried voice.

The girl, however, bounded right up to the group.

"Hiya! My name's Mabel! How are you all doing today!"

"Hi, I'm Rapunzel," Rapunzel answered.

"Oh, great, another bubbly bimbo," Merida rolled her eyes.

Hiccup elbowed her in the shoulder. "Be nice," he whispered as the boy twin began inching his way forward. The two were almost identical. Same brown hair, same freckles across their noses, same tanned skin. Even down to their…

"Huh," Hiccup cocked his head to one side.

"By the way, are you wearing contacts?" Rapunzel asked Mabel.

"Nope!" Mabel answered. "They're naturally silver! Dipper's too!"

"Attention. Attention, passengers. Next flight to Vale boarding now," a voice over the intercom called.

"Guess you kids better get on board," Simba called as he turned back to the gaggle of teenagers standing on the platform.

Hiccup and Merida were the first to board, taking their seats near the front of the ship. Flynn and Rapunzel were right behind them, followed by MacIntosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall. The rest of the prospective students took a bit longer, having parents, uncles, and such to say goodbye to. As they waited for the rest of their newly formed group (if it could even be called that) a trolley carrying a large group of people pulled up to the platform.

"What's that?" Rapunzel asked.

"Probably just passengers from a connecting flight," Flynn answered just as a loud voice began shouting it's way into the airship.

"...this disgusting, peasant tin can! I cannot believe Daddy booked me on here!"

A girl dressed in all purple and white with blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin stomped her way inside.

"Which way is first class!?" she demanded to know. A conductor pointed the way and she stomped off, leading a trail of servants behind her. As the procession of possessions ended, a slumped figure snuck his way in. A boy wearing a blue, tattered hoodie and carrying a staff slung over one shoulder, and a dusty old suitcase in the other, made his way down the aisle. He was barefoot, and he had cords holding the ends of his torn pants together. He kept slumping forward until he reached the very last aisle where he took his seat. He pulled his hood further over his head and slumped as far back in his seat as he could.

Two girls came in soon after. One was a red head with a strange, white streak on the right side of her head. The other was a platinum blond. They each carried a suitcase as they walked side-by-side to sit behind Rapunzel and Flynn.

Peaches, Kiara, Dipper, and Mabel soon filed their way on board. The doors closed shortly afterwards and the airship began to take off.

"Thank you for choosing us for your flight today! We will be arriving in Vale in approximately-"

"HEY!" a voice came from the platform. Hiccup and Merida turned to find Snotlout charging towards the ship. "HEY! DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

" _Ladies and gentlemen, we are now landing in the Kingdom of Vale! Thank you for flying with us today! Please remain seated until the airship has come to a complete stop."_

Hiccup beamed as he put his book down and leaned against the window. The airship slowly sunk below the clouds, the white fluff dissipating until he could see the school.

He'd made it!

Two circles of columns stood in front of a gigantic castle with a tall tower sticking out from the middle of it. Gardens decorated the section between the inner and outer most circles. A fountain and amphitheatre were in the center of the smallest circle.

"Oh, look!" Rapunzel gasped as she ran to stand beside Hiccup and Merida to try and catch a glimpse of their new school. The sound of the chatter, cheers, and bustling teenage excitement was deafening. The sounds continued and even escalated until the airship landed and the door open. The new students practically trampled each other, racing to be the first out. Whoever the lucky first one was though, it was certainly not Hiccup. The poor boy was nearly knocked off his feet by his rambunctious cousin and he had to cling to the railing to keep himself from tumbling to the ground.

"Hey, Merida! Wait up!" Hiccup called, but it's no use. She was gone and Hiccup was one of the last off the airship; he and the two silver-eyed twins.  
"Dipper, c'mon, let's-"  
"Augh!"  
The twins ran right into Hiccup, Mabel too excited to watch where she was going. All three went tumbling down the ramp, roofing and yelping until they ran straight into a cart stacked with suitcases and a girl pushing it.  
"Ouch! Get off me!" the girl cried as she pushed and kicked at the three brunettes that had tumbled on top of her.  
"Sorry," Hiccup muttered, red faced as he straightened out his vest, making sure it was still in its place..  
"You should be! How dare you! Do you even know who I am?" the girls screeched, brushing off her elegant and fancy clothing and smoothed her light blond hair.  
"The mayor?" Mabel guessed.  
The rich blond girl sniffed. "No! I'm-"  
"A CEO?" Mabel guessed again.  
"No! I'm-"  
"A chauffeur?"  
"No!" the rich girl stamped her foot. "I am-"  
"Pacifica Elise Northwest Schnee," a new voice called from the airship. Hiccuped turned to see the tall boy in a dilapidated blue hoodie swaggering down the exit ramp, nonchalantly twirling his staff in one hand and carrying his suitcase with the other. Hiccup, Dipper, and Mabel were a bit surprised. They had assumed he'd gone out with the stampede of students who'd first exitted.

"Heiress of the slimy Schnee Dust company," the boy continued, hooking his suitcase on the hooked end of his staff and placing the staff nonchalantly over his shoulder.  
"Pardon me, sir, but what do you mean slimy?" Pacifica crossed her arms angrily, eyes narrowing..  
"Well, what else do you call a company that treats their workers like trash, doesn't insure 'accidental' deaths, covers up embezzlements made by friends, and gives faunus workers lower pay and few opportunities for career growth," the boy counted on his fingers.  
"Are you accusing my family-"  
"Not to mention all those 'rumors,'" the boy made air quotes. "Of affairs, prostitutes, rapes, and murders."  
"How dare you!" Pacifica screeched.  
The boy shrugged and sauntered off, shooting Pacifica a death glare. "Just stating the facts."  
"Facts!? How do you-" Pacifica stomped off after the boy, screaming at the top of her lungs.  
"Well, they seem nice," Mabel said brightly.

"Your definition of nice and mine are two very different things," Dipper muttered.  
Hiccup chose to take the opportunity to slip off, readjusting his vest as I walked off…

...right into someone else.

"Augh! Oh, I'm so sorry!" he shrieked. "Oh gosh, I'm really sorry, I'm not-"  
"Watch where you're going!" a loud voice shouted as Hiccup was practically thrown up in the air by the person he ran into, a tall blond girl.  
A tall, pretty…  
…beautiful…  
…gorgeous girl!  
She had blue eyes, a slender but muscular figure, and wispy bangs covering the left side of her face. HIccup just stared, then shook his head to snape himself out of it. _Don't be a creep!_ He chastised himself as he stood and reached to help her up. She, however, stood on her own and stared him down, hands on her hips.  
Hiccup felt himself shrinking away. Something about this girl's gaze made him feel a bit unsafe. She was kind of scary.

"I really am sorry," he apologized again.

"What are you even trying to do?" the girl asked.

"Running away," Hiccup answered honestly.  
The girl checked behind Hiccup, spotting Pacifica and the boy in the blue hoodie. She immediately recognized Pacifica from various magazine articles.

"Running from that?" she pointed to the ongoing argument.  
"Yeah," Hiccup answered.  
"Hmph! Well, don't blame you for being in a hurry then," she said with a nod as she extended a hand towards him. "Astrid Hofferson."  
I shake her hand. "Hiccup Haddock."  
"Do you know where the opening assembly is supposed to be?" Astrid asked.  
Hiccup shook his head. "Uh-uh."  
She sighed and flipped her bangs out of her face. "Wanna help me look for it?"  
"Sure," Hiccup shrugged.  
"Alright, let's go," she gestured with her hand and they both walked off, leaving the boy and Pacifica to continue yelling at each other.  
"So, where'd you come from?" Astrid asked.  
"Berk," Hiccup answered.  
"Where?" she arched an eyebrow, clearly unfamiliar with the name.  
"Oh, it's a small island in between Anima and Menagerie," Hiccup explained.

"Never heard of it."

"Not a lot of people have," Hiccup shrugged. "Only thing more dull and tasteless than the food there are the people, so, not much to report.  
"Got it," Astrid nodded.  
"Where do you come from?" Hiccup asked.  
Astrid shrugged. "Here and there. Both of my parents are huntsmen, so we kind of just move wherever they're needed at the time. Last place we were living was Vacuo, though, so if you want to consider that my home, you can."  
"Do you consider that your home?" Hiccup asked.  
Astrid shrugged. "I guess. So, what do you have to offer in a battle?"  
"Huh?"  
"You know, your semblance? Your weapons? I like to know a little something about my opponent before engaging them on the battlefield."  
"Wh-Who's to say I'll be an opponent," Hiccup stuttered. Something told him Astrid was not someone he wanted to tangle with. "I…er…we might be on the same team."  
"Perhaps," Astrid nods. "But if so, I'd also like to know about my battle partner. So, what do you have going for you?"  
"Oh, um, well, my semblance is telekinesis…"  
"Nice," Astrid punched him in the shoulder.  
"And, um my weapons are these," Hiccup pulled out his sword and shield.  
"Cool, so what else do they do?"  
"Well," Hiccup showed Astrid the hilt of his sword. "I can conduct dust through my sword, and my shield is also a lasso, crossbow, mini catapult, and I can redirect certain dust attacks through it."  
"Wow. You went all out didn't you?" Astrid smirked. "I would say overcompensation but telekinesis seems like a pretty strong semblance."  
"I'm...not sure how to respond to that," Hiccup stated. "So, turning this back around, what about you? Your weapon? Your semblance?"  
"I've got an axe that's also a gun," Astrid took said weapon off her back. "I also get stronger every time someone punches me."

"Wha-how does that work?"

"I absorb energy from attacks and then can dish it back out on whoever I'm fighting."  
"That…is actually pretty awesome."  
"Don't get too intimidated," she punched him in the shoulder again.  
"Will all first year students make their way to the cafeteria!" the voice of Professor Bunnymund called over an intercom.  
"See you around," Astrid called as she took off.  
"Hey, wait!" Hiccup called after her. "I don't know where the cafeteria is..."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

It took Hiccup about thirty minutes to find the cafeteria. It was already packed to the brim amd Professor Bunnymund was already half-way through his speech.  
"…night you will all stay here in the cafeteria. Your initiation will begin tomorrow morning. Please don't give us any reason to throw you out before initiation even begins, alright mates?"  
Hiccup gently push my way through the crowd, looking for Merida. He found her standing near the middle of the crowd and walked to her side as Bunnymund turned it over to Headmaster North.  
"There you are," Merida said as she spotted me.  
"Had a hard time finding this place."  
"Well, you didn't miss much. The usual 'behave or will get yah,' stuff."  
"Welcome first years!" North cheers as he steps up to the microphone. "Congratulations on making here! Now, get READY!"  
Everyone jumped as he shouts so loud he makes the microphone squeak.

"Hey, some of us have sensitive ears here!" Peaches yelled from towards the back of the crowd, pointing to her ears.

North ignored him and continued. "Because tomorrow will be the hardest day of your life thus far. Full of strife, bloodshed, and impossible choices. Enjoy your first day at Beacon!"  
And with that he took off.  
"Well, that was comforting," Hiccup mutter to Merida, who rolled her eyes and elbows him in the gut.  
"Do you have to be sarcastic all the time?"  
"You've known me for how long, and you're asking that question?"  
She elbowed him again.  
As Bunnymund had said, that night all the first years pile into sleeping bags in the cafeteria. Peaches and Kiara kept close to each other through most of the night, pulling pranks on one another and causing all kinds of stereotypical slumber party pranks. A faunus boy with panda ears soon joined in on their fun, as well as a girl with fish gills on her neck and the red-head with the strange white streak from airship. Mabel and Rapunzel were quick to follow and it wasn't long before a pillow fight erupted. Once the battle of feathers and giggles had started Merida joined in, declaring herself a champion warrior, whatever that meant.

Hiccup found himself a nice corner to lie down in and pull out one of his books. He'd chosen a large sweatshirt that nearly came to his knees to wear since wearing his vest would look suspicious. He got a few odd looks for wearing a heavy shirt in early spring, but no one questioned it.  
"Really?" he heard Merida groan. He looked over the top of his book at her, smirking at the sight of the feathers sticking out of her hair.  
"Our first night at Beacon and you decide to read? Don't you think we'll be doing enough of that already? We are at a school, y'know!"  
He turned his attention back to the pages. "You have your ways of passing the time, I have mine."  
"Do you see anyone else in here reading their lives away!" Merida asked in an annoyed voice.  
Hiccup looked about and find Dipper with his nose stuck in a journal of some kind.  
"He is," he said before looking about some more. The a girl with the platinum blond hair who had accompanied the red-head with the white streak looking through an architecture pamphlet and sketching in a notepad. "Look, that girl is reading and doing math!"  
"Ugh! Okay, so you're not the only nerd here. You're one of thr-OOF!" A pillow smacked Merida in the side of her face and knocked her off her feet.

"Gotcha!" Mabel shouted.

"Ooh! You'll pay for that!" Merida declared as she jumped to her feet, taking up two pillows and charging after Mabel.  
"HEY!" a voice from a nearby sleeping bag shouted. The platinum blond boy from the airship poked his head out. "As fun as all of this is, getting to know everyone through games and such, and as much as I'd love to become more acquainted with all you lovely people, I'm tired right now, so could you all please kindly…SHUT UP!"  
And with that he jerked the sleeping bag back over his head.  
"It is kinda late," Kiara mumbled dropping her pillows.  
"Okay, see you guys tomorrow!" Rapunzel skipped off to her sleeping bag set up next to Flynn's who had a sleep mask on.

"Finally decided to tuck in, blondie?" he asked.

"Yup, night-night!" Rapunzel cheered as she snuggled into her sleeping bag.

Mabel dove head first into her sleeping bag next to her brother's and instantly fell asleep, her feet sticking out of where the head should have been.

"Erm...aren't you gonna turn her around?" Peaches asked as she and Kiara made their way to their sleeping bags.

"Nah, she does this all the time," Dipper shrugged as he closed his journal and laid down to sleep.

"M'kay," Peaches arched an eyebrow as she walked off.

The girl with the streak in her hair settled in the same sleeping bag as the platinum blond, who smiled and then settled down herself to sleep.

Merida all but collapsed into her sleeping bag, not even bothering to pick out the feathers from her hair. Hiccup shook his head at his cousin as he turned out his lamp, marked his book, and quickly went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"Wake up sleepy heads, it's initiation day!" A loud voice rang out through out the whole cafeteria. "Initiation day! Initiation day! Why are you all sleeping? Aren't you all excited! Let's go!"  
"Who in the name of Remnant?" Merida grumbled from her sleeping bag as she slowly lifted her head, eyes squinted.  
"I'll give you one guess," Hiccup answered as he slowly opened one eye, grumbling as Rapunzel skipped amongst the sleeping teens.

"INITIATION DAY!" the red head with the white streak screamed as she jumped to her feet, accidentally kicking her platinum haired companion in the face.

"Ermph!" the platinum blond grunted as she jolted awake.

"How does she have so much energy?" Merida asked.

"Beats me," Hiccup yawned as he stood to his feet, yawned, and stretched. He then quickly scurried to the locker rooms to get dressed before anyone else got in there and could possibly see him. Gathering his weapons and restocking them on dust he made his way to the cafeteria.  
Breakfast had already started and it was noisy. Everyone is jabbering on and on about what they think initiation will be. Maybe they'd have to fight one another? Maybe catch a grim? Maybe it'll just be an everyday paper test? Nobody was certain, but everybody has an opinion.  
Hiccup searched for his cousin and quickly found her. Merida, per the norm, had found a group of equally rowdy people (mostly guys) to fool around with. The current activity, per the norm once again, is arm wrestling. Hiccup thought about joining in, for a mili-fraction of half-a-second, but one glance at his noddle arms and he went back to reading his book, and checking out the other first year students over the top cover.  
Pacifica was sitting at the head of a table, surrounded by a crowd of guys that were already fawning over her and waiting on her hand and foot.

"I hope we're not on a team with her," Merida grumbled.

"Yeah…" Hiccup nagreed nervously. Was there anyway to guarantee that, though? Or that he would end up with Merida? His face blanched. How would he survive without his cousin? He and Merida had always had each other to lean on. Could he make it without…

He chose to ignore his fears and looked about at the other first years again. Dipper and Mabel were making faces at each other, using carrots for teeth, and stuffing their cheeks to a ridiculous size with buns. Astrid was sitting in a corner by herself, sharpening her axe. The platinum blond boy was also sitting off by himself, twirling his staff nonchalantly with his hood pulled over his face. Rapunzel, on the other hand, was busy running from one table to the next, chattering away about everything and nothing at the same time. Some of the students welcome her peppy nature, like a redheaded girl with a blond shriek in her hair. The platinum blond girl sitting next to her, however, seems fairly uninterested, which is better that the tiger faunus girl sitting across from them, who appeared a bit...nervous.

 _Join the club, pal,_ hiccup thought as he turned his page.  
"Would all first year students make their way out to the front lawn," Bunnymund's voice rang out. "You have 30 minutes. You get left, you get sent home."

Everyone scrambled to down their breakfast and get ready, except for Hiccup who was already ready and calmly sipped on a glass of orange juice. He was the only one who heard the announcement:

"Also, team GMMA (Gamma), we all know it was you, clean up your mess in the north tower."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"How is this an initiation?" Pacifica scoffed as she and the others stepped out of the airship...into an empty field leading up to a hill.

"Are we supposed to find our way back to Beacon?" Hiccup questioned as he and Merida exitted.

"Dunno, maybe we-hey, is that Headmaster North and Professor Bunnymund at the top of the hill?" Merida pointed.  
Slowly everyone made their way towards them and to find that the hill dropped off into a bluff. Along the edge are a series of platforms, each with an individual emblem on them. One of them has the Haddock Family crest, a circular dragon. Assuming this is meant for him, Hiccup stood behind it. The Dun'Broch family emblem, a sword in the middle of four interconnected circlets, was three platforms down from Hiccup's, which Merida walked to. In between Hiccup and Merida's emblems was two…sugar cubes? With a black-headed girl in a mint green hoodie standing on it. On either side were two six-fingered hands with a three in the middle of them that Dipper a Mabel stood behind.  
"Everyone take your positions in the center of your platforms!" North ordered and everyone obeyed. "Welcome to initiation!" North cheered, as Bunnymund kept the same uninterested face he'd been wearing.  
"So, here's how it's going to work, we are going to launch you off of the bluff and into the emerald forest-"  
"You don't mean literally launch us, do you?" Hiccup asked, catching some side glances from his classmates.  
"Yes, actually, I do!"  
"Oh, terrific," Hiccup grumbled as he tugged at his vest.  
"You will all need to use your landing strategies to land safely on the forest floor. From there you will need to find your partner."  
 _Merida,_ Hiccup automatically thought to himself.  
"Your partner will be the first person you meet once inside the forest."  
 _Okay. Maybe not Merida, but hopefully…?_  
"From there you and your partner will make your way to the center of the forest where you will find a temple. Inside will be several artifacts. Choose one to bring back. The artifacts you choose will determine your team. Yes, there are teams! You heard right. Teams of four to be exact!"  
 _Oh, goodie!_  
"This team will stay with you for the rest of your time at Beacon, so choose wisely."  
 _Well, how is that supposed to work? How can we choose our group wisely when we don't know who it is we a choosing?  
_ "So, get ready to-OH! One more thing! Do not hesitate to kill anything that gets in your way! Otherwise they will kill you. We will be observing you throughout initiation, but we will not intervene. Now, take your positions!"  
North gave a grand flourish of his arms and a kid at the end of the line was catapulted in the air. Hiccup stared over the edge of the cliff.

 _There's lots of trees, so lots of places to shoot a line into and swing myself to safety…or lots of places to get impaled.  
_ 3 more kids were catapulted in the air.  
 _There is another way I could ensure I make it to the ground safely, but-No! I can't do that!_

As four more kids get launched off the cliff, Hiccup double checked his shield to make sure the harpoons and wires are in good condition.  
Merida catapulted into the air, and sails off with a loud "WOO-HOO!"

Next Dipper, the black-headed girl, Mabel, and-  
-The force of the wind ripped past Hiccup as he shot through the air. It blinded him for a moment. He blinked a couple times to adjust and flip around so that he was facing towards the rather quickly approaching ground. He kept calm, and waited. If he shot his harpoon too early, he'd miss his target and crash to his death. If he shot too late he wouldn't have time to redirect his course and slow himself down. Once again, crashing to his death.

He saw a rather large branch sticking out over a clearing and made his shot.  
The harpoon pierced through the bark, and he pressed the button to reel himself in. He stopped flying through the air at a diagonal, and shot straight down for several feet, before he let his finger off the button. The shield stops reeling in the chord, and he swung his body so that he didn't smack into the tree branch, but instead swing around and underneath it.

The idea was only to swing around the branch once, but at seeing the ground appraoch than grow distant again it was clear that wouldn't be the case.

"Oh, no," Hiccup groanes as he spun around, and around, and around. After about the fourth round about the tree branch Hiccup got enough of his barings back to put his feet out as the ground drew closer. It stopped him, but it also caused him to face plant.  
After he finished spitting out grass and picking mud out of hi teeth, he contemplate how to get his harpoon out of the tree. Of course if this were an actual fight or a controlled exercise he wouldn't bother. But there was no telling how long this initiation was going to be. He might need it later.  
He decided to shimmy up the tree so he could untangle the wire from there, instead of just tugging incessantly from the ground and probably getting nowhere. He put his arms around the trunk and tried to work his way up, only to slip and fall flat on his back.  
 _Yeah, this is not going to work._  
He checked around to make sure no one was watching, and began to take his vest off.  
 _BOOM!_ The ground shook. Hiccup threw his vest back on and turned to find a series of fire balls cutting through the forest, exploding once they hit the ground. A girl sailed right into them, disappearing in the smoke.  
"Oh my gosh!" Hiccup shouted as he stumbled towards to sizzling crater. "Are you okay?  
"WEEEEE!"  
Hiccup blinked, surprised to find Rapunzel dancing in the middle of the crater.  
"That was sssoooo fun!" she suddenly stopped and gasped. "Oh no! I blew a hole in the ground! Oh, I hope I didn't burn any bunnies!"  
"Ahem!"  
She stopped her rambling and looked up.  
"Oh! I know you! You're the boy with the book!"  
"Um…yeah," Hiccup shrugged. "I guess that's me, are you oka-"  
She gasped loudly. "Oh! Have you run into anyone yet?"  
"Er…what?"  
"Have you bumped into anyone? Have you partnered up with someone yet?"  
He facepalm. He'd already forgotten about partnering up with the first person you meet.  
"No."  
"That means we're partners!"  
"Yup. Goodie!" he deadpanned.  
"This is the best day ever!"  
"Yay, lucky me."


End file.
